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NSW Coastal Management Reforms
The NSW Government has recently advertised the proposed NSW Coastal Management Reforms with 29 February 2016 closing date.
The NCA has formally requested deferral of this proposal pending proper community consultations and provision of more complete information.
Further information is available at http://www.planning.nsw.gov.au/en/Policy-and-Legislation/Coastal/Coastal-Reforms
You may be interested in the attached letter which I have sent to the Premier. It may be worth encouraging others to also send copies of their letters so they can be posted on this site.
Dear Premier
I am very concerned about proposals to “reform” Coastal development laws.
It appears these new laws will seriously damage the interests of many people who live on or near the coast outside the Sydney region, which apparently has been singled out for special beneficial protection, guaranteeing the millionaires in the Eastern Suburbs and Northern Beaches will not be affected. However much of the coastal strip which will be affected by these proposals is in regional areas which seem to be of little concern to the Government and its advisers.
The laws need to be changed to protect the property rights and interests of thousands of hard working Australians who, for a variety of reasons, live outside major cities. Instead it seems they are to be changed to take away their rights.
I and my neighbors are very concerned that the proposed new laws will allow Council administrators to impose severe planning restrictions not just on new developments but on existing properties. Even minor extensions or renovations are likely to be disallowed because of alarmist concerns about sea level rise which may or may not occur over the next 100 years. Of course, by that time no one whose property is affected today will know whether the predictions were right or not, but they will know that it has a very adverse effect on their rights and their investments.
In the Eurobodalla Shire the Council has exploited existing laws to impose draconian restrictions on more than 6000 properties. As a result property values in the Shire have plunged, as the reduction in value of the affected properties flows on to others further from the coastal fringe. As a result the Council has had to increase rates by
25 percent over the next few years. No wonder the Council is in such bad odor.
However as many of the properties are holiday or second homes and therefore subject to Land Tax the Council’s actions, endorsed by current laws and your Government’s policy, will be reducing the potential revenue the State would expect from Land Tax. Will you be doing the same as the Council and increasing taxes to compensate the Treasury for the losses it will incur if this outrageous proposal goes through?
We are very angry about these proposals which are a clear breach of your Government’s election promises. It seems that people in the regions are to be ignored. In that case may I remind you that in Victoria several years ago the then Premier, Jeff Kennett, regarded regional areas as “the toenails” of Victoria. Look what happened to him! The toenails showed what they thought of Jeff.
Continued moves by what is clearly a Green agenda to infringe the rights of people on the coastal region may see the same thing happening in NSW.
I therefore urge you to commit that the development of Stage II Coastal Reforms be postponed and that further consultation and full engagement with affected communities be undertaken with a view to producing a sensible solution which guarantees the rights and interests of affected landholders are respected and protected and stops Councils imposing unreasonable conditions on landowners.
Yours Sincerely
Russell Schneider AM.
